IBIS Ripley

Hot Take

Ibis sells three different Ripleys right now. The Ripley V5 (carbon, trail-oriented, 130/140 travel). The Ripley SL (carbon, XC-adjacent, 117/130 travel, new for 2026). The Ripley AF (aluminum, same 130/140 envelope as the V5, at a significantly lower price). Same lineage, three personalities, price span from $3,499 to $11,449. The V5 was named Singletracks readers' 2025 Trail Bike of the Year. We're treating all three as one entry because the shared DNA is strong enough that it's still "the Ripley" whichever one you ride.

The Brand

Ibis is a small, Watsonville-based independent. If you've ever been to Santa Cruz's flagship, the Ibis HQ is walking distance away. You can spend an afternoon stopping by both, looking at bikes, and setting up demos, which is not a bad way to spend an afternoon. Every full-suspension Ibis uses Dave Weagle's DW-Link, and has since the brand was revived in the mid-2000s. The catalog has grown beyond the trail-and-enduro core in the last few years: the Oso line of Bosch-powered e-MTBs (three travel options, all on DW-Link with V5 kinematics) sits alongside the Ripley/Ripmo/HD6 trio, and the DV9 hardtail and Hakka MX gravel bike round out the rest. They've survived multiple industry consolidation cycles by staying small and making good bikes. The Cotopaxi-made storage bags in the current V5's downtube tell you something about the company's tone: a small collaboration, remnant-fabric construction, no big press release.

The Bike

The Ripley has been in Ibis's lineup since 2013 and has never been dramatically reinvented. Ibis updates it every couple of years, keeps it short-travel and efficient, and moves on. Specs for the V5 as the representative: 130mm rear, 140mm fork, 64.9° head angle, 77° seat angle, 460mm reach on a medium, size-specific chainstays, internal downtube storage, DW-Link suspension. Singletracks reported the stock XT build at "close to 30 lbs." That's not light for a downcountry bike, but the V5 is leaning toward trail-bike territory on purpose. If you want the 117mm version, go SL. If you want aluminum, go AF.Pinkbike's launch coverage emphasized that the V5 "rivals the speed of an e-bike uphill while offering snappy, playful performance." Blister wrote that Ibis is "keeping their geometry a little more moderate in a world where everything was getting longer, lower, and slacker" and that the new Ripley follows the HD6 enduro bike's design language while adding size-specific chainstays and in-frame storage. Singletracks, covering the shared-frame release with the Ripmo, wrote "what the fork more could ya need than a 130/140mm mountain bike for most trails?" The Radavist's Spencer Harding, reviewing the V5, titled his piece "Downcountry is Dead" and wrote that the Ripley has evolved "from what used to be called a long-travel XC bike to the unfortunately-named 'downcountry.'" Coming from Radavist, that's meant as praise.Prices span from $3,499 (Ripley AF base) to $11,449 (Ripley SL top build). That's one of the widest ranges in the category.

The Last Word

The Ripley has been doing this longer than most. It's a good short-travel bike from a company that's been figuring out short-travel bikes for more than a decade, and the fact that they now sell three versions of it (and won readers' Trail Bike of the Year) suggests they're still getting it right.